It turns out Grandma may have been right all along: Chicken soup is the perfect remedy for a cold and flu.
Last month, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a key ingredient in some of the most common cold medications doesn’t actually work, leaving millions of Americans without reliable cold and flu remedies.
An FDA panel said after a two-day review that phenylephrine, an oral decongestant, ‘is not effective’ at standard or even high doses compared to a placebo and stores began pulling products containing the substance from their shelves, including Benadryl Allergy Plus Congestion, Sudafed PE, and Tylenol Cold and Flu Severe Day & Night.
Dr Stuart Fischer, an internal medicine doctor in New York City, told DailyMail.com there were several over-the-counter alternatives – and natural remedies – that work better.
Dr Fisher’s alternatives to Benadryl Allergy Plus Congestion, Sudafed PE, and Tylenol Cold and Flu Severe Day & Night
CVS will begin pulling popular oral cough and cold products with phenylephrine as the only active ingredient from its store shelves. Pictured: Empty CVS shelves in New York City
The pharmacy chain is removing the products voluntarily after a panel of advisers to the FDA last month refused to back the effectiveness of oral over-the-counter medicines made with the ingredient
Dr Fischer said he was pleased to hear the news and said there are plenty of alternatives that work better than the over-the-counter products, including the age-old recommendation of chicken soup.
Dr Fischer said: ‘I’m not very big on over medicating the signs and symptoms of a winter cold.
‘I see this as our bodies utilizing the immune system and over medicating ourselves so that we feel “normal” – it’s not going to help you.
‘You cannot achieve normal feelings in the midst of a winter virus. It’s going to take time and it’s going to run its course.
‘The idea that someone can totally erase the signs and symptoms of a winter virus – I don’t think that’s necessary and I frankly very rarely recommend [these medications] and I never take them myself.’
In lieu of the products with phenylephrine in them, Dr Fischer recommended other ways to help a person feel better.
When it comes to pharmaceutical options, the physician said taking the regular version of Benadryl that only contains diphenhydramine and not phenylephrine can help people suffering from sinusitis, the swelling of tissue lining the sinuses that causes facial pain and nasal congestion, by drying out of the mucous membranes in the nose.
It can also help ‘dry up’ a wet cough.
The internist also recommended a cough syrup like Robitussin, adding the medication ‘is essentially harmless.’
Dr Fischer said N-acetyl csyteine (NAC), an antioxidant that comes from the amino acid L-cysteine, could help people feeling under the weather.
NAC is thought to possibly play a role in preventing cancer and is used to treat acetaminophen poisoning.
People also commonly use it for a cough and other lung conditions, as well as the flu and dry eye. There aren’t many studies on NAC and its impact on the immune system, but current research suggests it may help improve immune function.
Phenylephrine is everywhere, so much so that nearly every nasal decongestant on pharmacy shelves contains it
One study found people who took 600 mg of the substance twice a day had fewer flu symptoms than those who took placebo.
A remedy that has been recommended for decades, chicken soup, is one of the best things to alleviate the symptoms of a cold or the flu, Dr Fischer said, and he was even taught it during his medical training.
There are three things in chicken soup that are vital to alleviating an illness: the broth, salt and chicken fat.
When people are sick, taking in fluids is essential to stay hydrated, and the broth in soup can help do that.
Secondly, people sick with fevers may be sweating and losing water, but the salt in chicken soup draws water into the body’s cells, rehydrating them.
Lastly, the chicken fat in the soup is a good surfactant, a fat soluble molecule that opens and closes air sacs deep in the lungs, helping people take deep breathes in and breath out more fully.
When it comes to actually preventing illness, one of the best things you can take, according to Dr Fischer, is probiotics.
He said: ‘My own particular way of preventing colds is probiotics. I don’t think anyone can get too many probiotics. I take 25 billion units of probiotics every morning.
‘And this to me is what people mean when they say they have a good immune system. It’s not something inherent in their chemistry, but its live good bacteria overwhelming the bad negative bacteria.’
Probiotics are considered ‘good bacteria’ in the digestive system and can help fight off harmful bacteria that can lead to illnesses.
They can be found in foods like yogurt, cottage cheese and kimchi. Supplements containing different strains are also sold over the counter.
Probiotics have been shown to help boost immune health by balancing the gut’s good bacteria.
Along with the alternative remedies, Dr Fischer stressed people who are sick should rest and take in fluids with electrolytes to replace the fluid they are losing through sweating, which can happen when someone has a fever.
While the FDA panel’s ruling last month is not binding, it strongly suggests the agency could soon heed their advice and pull its approval of phenylephrine, forcing drug makers to pull or reformulate their products.
Following the ruling, pharmacy giant CVS began pulling over-the-counter cough and cold products from its shelves this month.
The store said it will pull oral medications that contain phenylephrine as their only active ingredient.
Pseudoephedrine, also a drug in over-the-counter cold medications, helps congestion and despite its similar-sounding name, it is not the medicine researchers say is ineffective.
Dr Fischer told DailyMail.com he thinks it’s a good thing the FDA made this ruling and stores are pulling products.
He said the side effects from the medications outweigh any small benefits the drugs may have.
While phenylephrine is not a stimulant, it can have stimulant-like side effects, including raising blood pressure, increasing heart rate and causing restlessness.
The physician noted there is an epidemic of high blood pressure in the United States and a drug like phenylephrine can raise it to an unhealthy level.
And because these medications are available without a doctor’s prescription, people can ‘self prescribe,’ simply walking into a store to buy the cold remedies.
While they may feel a slight improvement in their health, Dr Fischer told this website they may be unaware of the dangerous side effects.
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